Small "button" on bottom right of charger keeps kicking out

[emoody]

Hi all. I just joined the forum, so forgive me if this has already been discussed elsewhere, but I bought a 48V Club Car a few weeks ago, and had been using it without issue. I noticed a few rounds ago that the battery light was coming on, so I figured I didn't get the charger plugged in correctly, but last round, the cart was dying on me on the way up the hill, so I turned around and parked it. I plugged the charger in, and watched. It kicked on and then off to do the diagnostic check and then ran at 19 for about 10 minutes. After 10 mins or so, that black hinged "button" on the bottom right of the charger kicked out/popped, which exposed a white section of plastic, and then the charger shut off. I started looking into a manual, and found it on Club Car's website, but my problem is that I don't see anywhere that calls out what the black hinged "button" is on the bottom right side of the charger. I pushed the button back in, and it starts charging again, but kicks itself off again after 10 minutes. I pulled the cover off the charger, and the hot (black) AC line runs dirrectly into that, and then power leaves that through another AC line terminal to the rest of the charger, so I figure it must be what is really causing the issue since it is first inline to receive power. Can anybody tell me what that button is, and what might be causing it to trip out?

[sonicj]

the "button" is a thermal breaker. it functions just like the breaker in your house; when a circuit becomes overloaded, it pops and disconnects the problem circuit before something catches fire.

the most common reason for these breakers tripping is one or more faulty batteries. have you checked the water level in your batteries lately? have the batteries recently been put back into service after a extended period of no use?
how old are the batteries?

another reason for breaker troubles is the fact that they become weak after being tripped. carbon buildup on the contacts will cause a breaker that has been tripped to trip more easily. solution - disassemble and clean the contacts with alcohol, very light sandpaper & old toothbrush OR replace the breaker.

if the source of the initial breaker trip is not resolved, the new breaker will trip and you'll be back to square one. make sense?
-sj

[sonicj]

club car wants like $18 for that little sucker, but you can pick one up from digikey for far less. replacement breaker $3.14

[Fishing Dude]

They do go bad, would try replacing it first.

[emoody]

Thanks for the help. I replaced that, and watched if for 30 minutes, but when I came back 9 hours later from work, the battery light was blinking in a sequence of 4 seconds off, 6 seconds on, 4 seconds off, and 25 seconds on. I looked through the manual, but I didn't see that code called out. Can anybody help me with that?

[shadowman]

was charger still on? or did it trip it again........................

[emoody]

The charger had shut off, but wasn't tripped out

[shadowman]

try driving it and charging it again and what light does.....it could have something to do with the charger tripping and not getting full charge when that was going on..............................

[emoody]

Yep, that was it. Thanks Shadowman. I plugged it back in again, and everything ran out correctly.

[shadowman]

Originally Posted by emoody

Yep, that was it. Thanks Shadowman. I plugged it back in again, and everything ran out correctly.

thats what we like to hear..................................